Summary of “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” by Agatha Christie

It was a surprising Friday morning for Dr. James Sheppard when he found out that Mrs. Ferrars just died by a suicide attempt. Mrs. Ferrars was rumored and had been blackmailing to have murdered her late husband, Mr. Ashley Ferrars. Her death affected Mr. Roger Ackroyd whom involved an affair with after the death of her husband. Several days later, Mr. Roger Ackroyd was found stabbed to death. The moment before Mr. Ackroyd’s death discovery, he invited several people to a dinner. Mr. Ackroyd and Dr. Sheppard was talking later in Mr. Ackroyd’s office. Mr. Ackroyd told Dr. Sheppard that he and Mrs. Ferrars were in love, then she admitted that she murdered her late husband. He also told Dr. Sheppard that he knew someone had been blackmailing her. Just in time, John Parker entered the office with an evening post and an envelope from Mrs. Ferrars. Dr. Sheppard wanted to Mr. Roger to read it, but he said he will do later. Then Dr. Sheppard left the office, encountered with a mysterious yet familiar person. After got home, Dr. Sheppard was called by a person claimed to be Parker, saying that Mr. Ackroyd was murdered. Dr. Sheppard came back to Roger’s estate, observing the crime scene while the inspectors taking everyone’s testimony. Ralph was nowhere to be found. The next morning, Flora Ackroyd and Dr. Sheppard asked Mr. Porrot—Hercule Poirot—to help investigate the case. Since then, Mr. Porrot and Dr. Sheppard have been investigating together. The head police inspector, Inspector Raglan, told Mr. Porrot his chronology theory, but Mr. Porrot was not sure. Poirot assembled his suspects—Blunt, Flora, Mrs. Ackroyd, Raymond, Parker, and Sheppard himself. Then, Mr. Porrot explained his theory and said the killer was none other than Dr. Sheppard himself. Dr. Sheppard was Mrs. Ferrars’ blackmailer and he did not want to be caught by Roger—his good friend. Poirot calmly tells Sheppard that he can either go to the police or kill himself. Sheppard spends all night writing his confession. He plans to kill himself with an overdose of sleeping medication. He trusts that Poirot and Raglan will keep his secret, so that Caroline won’t have to go through the pain of learning that her beloved brother was a murderer.